Butter Yellow Leather Bag

It’s my opinion that Weekend Sewing by Heather Ross is one of the more lovely sewing books out there and ever since I opened up that beautiful tome I’ve been dying to make the leather bag.  I was scared, however, of sewing with leather on my regular machine.  And, for that matter, I didn’t know how to go about getting my hands on soft, supple leather.  As a result, it took me forever to sew up this buttery yellow bag, which only makes it more wonderful to be able to say VIOLA! It’s my butter yellow leather bag! I mean, look at that scrumptious leather! I finally found it at Denver Fabrics. It’s lined with some of the Pendleton wool left over from my Wiksten dress.

Here is the nitty gritty on this pattern and this bag.

Things I love about this pattern:  It’s simple to construct.  In true Heather Ross form the pattern is easy and clear.  It looks complicated with all the hardware and the little bit of leather at the top in the inside of the bag but it isn’t.  Same goes for the side of the bag with the strip of leather, it’s easy to make.

Things I don’t love:  The bag is droopy. It looks cool but isn’t really practical for everyday use. I needed to use soft, supple leather so it would sew smoothly on my machine but that makes for a soft, smooshy bag and I like my bags to have more structure.  This is especially the case considering all that heavy hardware.  When I set this bag down it flops and then clanks when the hardware hits the ground and it sits there looking like a dog toy.    The bag strap is too weak & the pattern has you simply tie knots to hold the strap in place.  Considering living my life is the equivalent of being inside one of those ‘sturdiness testing’ machines they have out at Ikea (you know the kind that perpetually sucker punch a piece of furniture…of course, mine would need wheels so it could roam), I need bag straps that can hack it in harsh conditions!

Of course, all in all I’m proud of working with leather and doing it on my home machine! I will totally use this bag when I go places with hooks and without my kids.

p.s. this post include affiliate links to Amazon.  If you click on them & buy something I get a few cents. Thanks!